


Price of War

by AngstingQueen



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Child Abuse, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, There's A Tag For That, au where zuko did not make it out of the palace in time, too bad ozai warped their perception of love, zuko and azula are messed up, zuko does not get his redemption arc, zuko loves his sister and his sister loves him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:26:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25009939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngstingQueen/pseuds/AngstingQueen
Summary: Iroh had given up on his nephew, believing him to be entirely lost to Ozai. He is right in a way and wrong in another. A terrible other.Zuko and Azula are siblings with a desire to make others hurt the way they were.Katara is trying really hard not to throw up.The only one probably having a worse day is the man dead on the ground.Never mind Zuko's definitely having a worse day.
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & The Gaang (Avatar)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 283
Collections: A:tla





	Price of War

They get there just in time. Azula was kneeling to receive her crown, hair askew and robes a mess. She looked positively crazy. To say Katara was nervous was an understatement. The last time she had laid eyes on Azula, the crazy firebender had managed to catch herself on the side of a cliff with her own hairpiece. The girl looked unhinged, a scary sort of freedom.

Uncle Iroh, who had insisted the gang all call him uncle, jumped down from Appa’s saddle with Katara at his side. Azula cackled, body shaking as Uncle marched forward. The Fire Sage looked relieved to see Iroh, to the point he was already starting to lower the crown away from Azula’s head.

“I challenge you, Princess Azula, for the Dragon Throne. I declare Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe as my second.” Uncle announced, head held high. Katara shifted and moved to Iroh’s right side. “Please Niece, forfeit, there is no need for us to fight.” 

Azula laughed and laughed. She rose unsteadily, swaying on her feet. The princess smirked with wild eyes.

“You can’t challenge me? Your second isn’t even a firebender!” Azula smugged.

“My apologies, Your Highness,” The Fire Sage flinched hard when Azula whipped around to face him, “For an Agni Kai, the seconds do not have to be firebenders as the challenger and the challenged usually end up fighting. It is perfectly within the rules.” 

“That’s stupid.” Azula deadpanned. The Fire Sage licked his lips.

“That’s the law. You must answer General Iroh’s challenge, Princess.” Azula growled low, cursing out the Sage. 

“Uncle,” Azula straightened her posture. “I accept your challenge.” Iroh sighed.

“Who will be your second?” The Sage asked. “They are required to continue.” 

Azula studied her uncle thoughtfully before turning her gaze to Katara, who shivered under the molten glare. Azula turned back to Iroh, a slow smile cracking her face. Sozin’s Comet soared overhead. 

“Fetch my brother. Former Crown Prince Zuko shall be my second.” The Sage bowed and raced away, his robes billowing behind him. Iroh blanched. Azula snickered and discarded her coronation robe, leaving her in her armor and training clothes.

“Were you planning on enjoying Sozin’s Comet after your coronation, Niece?” Uncle asked, clasping his hands behind his back. Azula hummed.

“Yes I had been. I feel quite like a dragon with this much power. Would I be the Blue Dragon, Uncle? We could have matching titles.” Azula giggled. 

The Fire Sage returned with a guard and a person in chains. Their inky black hair covered their face as the person was dragged behind the guard. The Sage bowed before Azula, gesturing for the guard to hand over the key. Azula snatched it out of the man’s grip with an inflamed hand. The guard screamed and cowered back, dropping the chain and falling onto his back. Azula promptly lit the man on fire. The screams died out after a couple minutes. Katara swallowed back her reappearing meal.

The Sage held his bow, not even daring to flinch. Azula regarded the priest for a couple minutes before lighting the Sage’s robes on fire. The Sage dropped and rolled, smothering the blue flames before fleeing. Katara swallowed thickly, looking to see Iroh’s stone cold expression fixed upon the prisoner. 

“Guess what Zuzu? You get the honor of being my second. Now stand up, and greet our uncle properly.” Azula nudged the form of her older brother with her foot. 

Zuko rose slowly, an almost mirror image of Azula’s previous unsteadiness. He raised his head, the long scraggly hair parting for them to see his face. Katara gagged. 

His face was sunken in, with too tight skin stretched over his bones. His scar seemed to have been reinjured, a bleeding mass that engulfed his eye, swallowing it in the ooziness. There was a large area along his check riddled in large cuts that were covered in grit and blood. Zuko was a bloody mess, it dripped from his clothes and pooled on the floor. Zuko seemed not to notice, his remaining golden eye fixated on his uncle. It was an empty molten gold, swirling with the heat underneath his skin.

Azula unlocked the chains and whispered in her brother’s ear. Zuko turned his gaze to his younger sister. Iroh sucked in a harsh breath when his nephew turned away. Zuko nodded distractedly and moved to stand at Azula’s right side. Iroh nudged Katara. Oh right, Katara had been so enraptured by the fire siblings that she had forgotten the plan that had been set in place. She cleared her throat.

“Prince Iroh wishes for his second and Princess Azula’s second to meet and negotiate.” Katara declared. Azula scowled briefly. Zuko turned to his sister. Azula pursed her lips and nodded. 

“Princess Azula agrees to allow the meeting.” Zuko called, his voice way more hoarse and raspy than Katara remembered. A quick glance to Iroh confirmed that Zuko’s voice was shot. Katara uncorked her waterskin and strode to the middle of the yard. Zuko bowed to Azula before moving to meet the waterbender.

It was worse close up. Katara could feel the heat radiating off Zuko’s skin, the scent of blood thick. She swallowed back bile. Zuko bowed in greeting. Katara steeled herself. 

“If Azula forfeits, she can be named Uncle’s heir,” Katara explained, dropping the formilites, “There is no need for a fight. We can end this without bloodshed.”

“Princess Azula has the line of Fire Lord Sozin running through her veins. No honorable descant will fold their hand before the game has even begun.” Zuko tilted his head, as if listening to another. He spoke as if reciting a line from a play, with focus on emphasis. 

“This isn’t a game, Zuko! This is real life, just stop!” Katara growled. Zuko blinked. 

“Everything is a game, Princess Katara. Her Highness, Princess Azula will not forfeit, our negotiations were over before they even began. Please relay to Prince Iroh what we have discussed.” Zuko bowed and turned on his heel, marching back to Azula’s side. The princess smirked at Katara’s frightened expression. 

Azula cocked her hip, resting a hand upon it as she watched her brother return to her side. Zuko leaned down to her ear and spoke. Azula rolled her eyes and laughed. 

Iroh and Azula knelt at opposite ends. Katara was far enough away that Zuko seemed like a red blur, sitting on the ground. Katara opted to stay standing, not trusting Azula to not attack her at any moment. 

Uncle and Niece rose and turned.

Azula sent the first blast, the rich blue swirled in the air, roaring across the ground. Iroh sidestepped it easily, sending his own fire back. Their flames colliding in the center, curling around each other and fanning out, setting fire to its surroundings. It was hot, the heatwave made Katara stumble back, away from the fire. Zuko did not react. 

The Fire Princess growled and spun, blue fire shooting from her feet, lifting her up and propelling the girl across the ground. Katara always thought that Azula’s firebending felt more like dancing, choreographed movements with purpose, now though? Azula moved spariticly, jerking and swaying as she bent. 

The moment when Azula fell did not register at first. The girl had been skating towards her uncle, with all the power behind her. Iroh merely twirled and let loose a fan of flames. Azula defended herself but lost concentration of her fire skates. She tumbled into the dirt. Azula howled and struggled onto her elbows. Zuko moved. He knelt at his sister’s side and inspected her. Zuko raised his bloody head.

“Princess Azula has not been burned but can no longer battle. I will continue in her place.” Iroh swallowed audibly. Katara felt angry tears prick at her eyes. Zuko picked up his sobbing sister and set her gently out of the way. 

Both firebenders glanced towards the sky and watched Sozin’s Comet leave. The hum of energy Iroh felt left him in a rush. Zuko swayed on his feet slightly.

“Please nephew, let us stop this, there is no need to continue this Agni Kai.” Iroh pleaded, staring at the little boy he helped raise on a cold metal ship. Zuko’s face began to twitch.

The boy Iroh considered a second son sent a burst of fire at him. Iroh split it down the middle with a sob, sending back his own. Zuko grunted and the flames circled around his head and went hurdling back at Iroh. The older man barely had any time to dodge. 

The two paused, panting at the other end of the courtyard. Zuko heaved in breaths that made Iroh want to chid him about. A shadow passed overhead. Zuko did not look up. Iroh did not dare to tear his eyes away from the swaying boy. Katara had the luxury. 

“It’s a war blimp. It’s Sokka and Aang! They did it!” Katara exclaimed. Iroh straightened out of his stance. Zuko did not. The balloon landed, and five shapes entered the battlefield.

Ozai; barely conscious in chains, Sokka; leg wrapped up in a splint, Toph; grinning madly from ear to ear, Aang; roughed up but alive, Suki; supporting her boyfriend and the first to notice what was occurring.

Avatar Aang, the twelve year old child, had defeated Fire Lord Ozai. The man himself was seething in rage at the mere sight of his brother and son. Aang and the others paused at the edge.

“Prince Iroh, the Agni Kai is not over.” Zuko drew all attention to himself with a single sentence. Iroh moved slowly back into a firm stance.

“But, I defeated Ozai? It’s over.” Aang spluttered. Zuko sniffed and whipped in a circle and sent an arch of fire rushing towards his uncle. The returning heroes flinched bodily away as Zuko and Iroh fought. Katara could not stop the stream of tears running down her face.

It wasn’t until Ozai spoke that things really began to fall apart. 

“ZUKO! FORGET IROH! FREE ME!” Ozai ordered. Toph slapped a metal gag over the former fire lord’s mouth. Zuko paused. Iroh stopped to see what his nephew would do. 

Zuko turned to stare at his father, struggling in chains held by a small girl, gagged and fireless. And Zuko laughed. He laughed and laughed. It was a horrible sound, it echoed through the empty palace. Zuko wrapped his arms around his stomach and keeled over onto his knees. Zuko laughed, big fat tears cascading down his ruined cheeks. 

All of the people witness to Zuko’s breakdown, for that’s what this must be, stood stock still in horror. 

Then Azula began to laugh.

The two siblings cackled up to the sky. Azula drug herself over to the shaking form of her brother, draping herself over his lap. Zuko grabbed his sister’s shoulder and kept laughing, long after Azula passed out. 

Iroh had to pinch the nape of Zuko’s neck to let the poor broken boy rest. 

It no longer felt like a victory.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Man I really like hurting Zuko and Azula huh. Comments are greatly encouraged! I love reading your reactions :D


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